Phillies pitchers out of control in sloppy loss to Nationals

By DENNIS DEITCH

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

PHILADELPHIA -- With expanded rosters come expanded opportunities for players with teams that are out of the playoff hunt.

With expanded opportunities comes the knowledge that some of those placed in those situations probably aren't going to see much major-league baseball outside of a lost September. And that means some not-ready-for-prime-time antics -- like pitchers who combine to throw more balls than strikes in a game.

The Phillies got that dose of mind-numbingly poor control from Ethan Martin and five relievers, as they combined to walk nine Nationals -- two with the bases loaded -- and give up just enough costly hits to hand over an 9-6 win at eerily empty Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night.

In addition to the nine walks, there was a hit batter -- Jayson Werth, who wasn't happy about taking a Martin fastball alarmingly close to a wrist he's broken more than once -- and also the wondrous strikeout/wild pitch that not only allowed Bryce Harper to get to first base, but scored Washington's final insurance run. The final tally was 180 pitches, 88 for strikes. That's less than half, for those not strong at math.

Odds are your computation would come closer to the correct answer than a Phillies pitcher's delivery came to the plate.

"We were having a nice stretch there where the relievers were getting guys out and keeping it down in the zone," said Ryne Sandberg, who has been getting a majority of those strong outings from Jake Diekman and B.J. Rosenberg, neither of whom were centrally involved in this mess. "Sometimes you have one of those nights where the whole staff ... it kind of snowballed with every guy out there falling behind in the count."

It was an interesting lineup in there for Sandberg. Six of his nine starters began the season in the minors, with both Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley getting the night off as the Phillies attempt to allow their older players to save some of their bullets for 2014. The middle infield was made up of Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis, who went a combined 1-for-9 in the top two spots of the order.

There were some signs of life, however. Cody Asche did what he could to keep the Phillies in the game, going 3-for-4 with a two-run single off Washington starter Gio Gonzalez and a solo homer in the eighth off Tyler Clippard that cut Washington's lead to 8-6. That run was erased when Rosenberg struck out Harper, but had his hard curve in the dirt get past a weary Carlos Ruiz, who couldn't recover the ball in time as another run crossed.

"I thought he had great at-bats," Sandberg said of Asche. "I think he can hit righties or lefties, personally. I think he has that ability. He should get a big boost from his game tonight."

For Martin, it is getting obvious that his future will be as a reliever. After working a strong first inning, Martin started to unravel in the second, hitting Werth and walking Adam LaRoche before Wilson Ramos hit a blast to center field to put the Nats up, 3-0.

"I know this is normally the end of the season for him (in the minors)," Sandberg said of Martin. "Now he has another month of baseball in front of him.

"(A future in the bullpen) has been yet to be talked about."

Martin didn't make it through the fifth inning, as wildness continued to haunt him. And from there the bullpen only made things scarier.

The Phillies announced the winners of the Paul Owens Award, which is given to the top player and pitcher in the organization's minor-league system, and they had easy choices in 2013.

Corner infielder Maikel Franco, one of the youngest players in both the high-Class A Florida State League and Double-A Eastern League, hit .320 with 31 homers, 103 RBIs, a .569 slugging percentage and .926 OPS while splitting time with Clearwater and Reading to emerge as the Phils' best offensive prospect.

Receiving the pitching honor is Severino Gonzalez, who originally was to start his 2013 in short-season Class A, but instead got a chance to make a spot appearance with Clearwater and ran with it. By the time his season ended with a quality start at Double-A Reading, the 20-year-old right-hander was 7-5 with a 2.00 ERA and 1.023 WHIP in 25 games (14 starts). With 119 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 103 Î innings, perhaps someday Gonzalez can help curb walkfests like the one that took place Tuesday night.